Aluminum Subframe Bushing Installation
From Taurus Car Club Maintenance and Modification Wiki
The installation of aluminum subframe bushings on your car will make the car feel much tighter, improve steering response and turn in, and get rid of your old, worn bushings. Any kind of bushing is a wear item, and after 100K miles, they get old and start to lose their effectiveness. Now, for all the good things that aluminum subframe bushings provide, they are not without their negatives. They can increase noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH), meaning that you will hear and feel more of the road and it's imperfections. If you want a better feel, but think you can't handle any kidney punches, you can get Gen III rear subframe bushings and put them on all four corners. That said, I really don't think their's that much difference in terms of NVH, and I think the benefits far outwiegh the negatives (aluminum is also about half the cost of Gen III rears). On to the installation...
Jack up the car and put stands underneath the unibody frame rails, then carefully lower the rear of the subframe with two floor jacks. I've seen some people say that you can lower the rear with only one jack, but I wouldn't recommend it. You want to get them snug under the subframe ends, then gradually remove the bolts. A 1/2" impact wrench with a deep well 18mm socket works well for this, but you can use a 3/8" drive socket with a deep well 18 mm socket and a pipe, or a breaker bar. After you undo the bolts, you want to lower the subframe, slowly, about an inch at a time, alternating between the two jacks. Once you have the subframe lowered, pop out the rear bushings. They are a two piece design; take the top part off first, and the lower part will drop right out. You then need to dremel out the holes in the subframe, where the bushings push through, to get any rust or corrosion out of there. It will only take a couple quick passes with a grinding wheel. You will then position the bushings, start threading the bolts, and raise the subframe. Snug them up tight with the impact wrench and make sure there is nothing that is getting pinched or that looks out of place. Use a torque wrench to torque them to 50 - 76 lb/ft.
Now it's time for the fronts. Remove the two jacks that were holding up the rear of the subframe, and use the larger one (if you have two different ones) of the two jacks in the middle of the front of the subframe. You'll know exactly where I'm talking about when you get under there. Snug that up to the subframe, and remove the aeroshield. It is held on by 8 5.5 mm bolts and 3 8 mm bolts. Use the impact wrench to remove the mounting bolts (again, 18mm). Then, lower the subframe partway down. There are four 10 mm bolts on the top side of the bushing, as well as a washer that sits in between the top of the bushing and the actual unibody frame of the car. At first, I used a 10 mm combo wrench, after spraying some PB Blaster up there. This was slow, and I realized that I could lower the subframe at least two more inches. I brought the subframe down the rest of the way, and was able to use a 1/4" drive socket wrench with a 10 mm shallow socket. This was much easier, because you only have about 1/3 of a turn of clearance. Remove the old bushings (there is only a bottom piece and the aforementioned bolts and washer) and discard. Position your new bushings, and jack the subframe up about halfway. Start to thread the bolts, and use the impact wrench to snug them. Don't let the bolts start to raise the subframe. Subframe bolts should NEVER be used to raise the subframe. Raise the subframe the rest of the way, and finish tightening the bolts. Torque to 50 - 76 lb/ft. You can now remove the floor jack, as it's not needed. Replace the aeroshield and remove the jackstands.
You're done!
-Created by TCCA member Godspunk32 (JR)
